If you’re stuck at home and thinking: what can I do to help my community? I hope today’s podcast will inspire you.
Last week, my colleagues at The BBC World Service invited me to join the show Business Matters and share news from Silicon Valley. Even though the valley is one of America’s COVID-19 hotspots, I was determined to report something positive.
For inspiration, I thought of Mr. Rogers, America’s beloved TV personality and puppeteer. He famously said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
During this unsettling time, when it’s easy to get scared and give in to despair, I find his advice reassuring. But I think he meant more than one thing. I think, if Mr. Rogers was alive today, he’d say:
Find people who are helping…
Find opportunities to help, and encourage others to help in their communities.
So I scoured the news for uplifting stories about people who’re helping in my community. A tweet from California Governor Gavin Newsom caught my eye. He praised the rapid response of a Silicon Valley company that’s stepping up to meet the urgent need for ventilators to keep COVID-19 patients alive. I immediately got in touch with Bloom Energy and interviewed its chief operating officer, Susan Brennan that afternoon. She told me she challenged her team by saying, “We’re going to solve this thing!” I wanted to know: was the solution the brainchild of one person, or a team effort? You’ll find out below.
My interview aired on the BBC World Service on April 2, 2020.
Here are highlights of my conversation with the BBC’s Jamie Robertson and Enda Curran, chief Asia economics correspondent at Bloomberg in Hong Kong. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
We began by discussing the record 10 million people in the United States who’re unemployed, many almost overnight. Jamie Robertson: Alison, you must know people who’ve been made unemployed. Are they just lying down and taking it or are they getting up and doing something else, finding other opportunities? Alison van Diggelen: In California, Governor Newsom has set up a job matching site. The state has partnered with private companies so you can go online and find jobs that fit your skills. Other people are doing coding classes, or online training, to become yoga teachers for example.
This week, I interviewed Susan Brennan of Bloom Energy and heard about an engineer called Joe Tavi. He hasn’t lost his job, but has found a new job. He was on the production team for fuel cell making, but is now on the “Tiger Team” to refurbish ventilators for the cause. People are really seeing opportunities within this devastation. Robertson: We’re going to be hearing from him in the last piece on this program. You’ve got a fascinating report….
Over in Silicon Valley, a fuel cell company called Bloom Energy has stepped up to refurbish non-functioning ventilators for hospitals in record speed by repurposing their warehouses. Here’s the company’s COO, Susan Brennan. Susan Brennan: Valves, pumps, airflow, batteries: If you look at the pieces, there’s so much commonality between a ventilator and a fuel cell. Completely different function and process, but at its base level: very common inputs.
I spoke to the head of health and human services on March 17th, St Patrick’s day. That’s when I built the Tiger Team. I said: this is a mission, either you’re in or you’re not in. But if you’re in, we’re going to solve this thing!
My engineer, Joe Tavi, went home on a Wednesday. He downloaded the manual, taught himself overnight, developed processes the next day, Thursday. On Friday we convinced the state that we were capable of doing this. Everybody’s asking: what they can do right now? Where is that niche that you have, that you can go fill?
Susan asks a very good question: where’s the niche that you have, that you can go fill?
Find out more
Bloom Energy is refurbishing between 1000 and 2000 ventilators a week. To date, it has delivered over 1000 ventilators in California and Delaware. If you have ventilators in need of refurbishment, please contact Bloom Energy today. You could save a life.
If you’d like to share what you or your company is doing to help fight the pandemic or support people in your community, join the conversation at Facebook
Over 100 Americans die every day from opioid overdose, that’s about 40,000 a year. What can be done to reverse the recent spike in fatalities? In San Francisco, a team of public health workers is focused on treating the most vulnerable: homeless people on the city’s streets. My latest report for the BBC explores how this special ops “Street Team” is finding and convincing people to get the latest medical treatment, wherever they are.
It’s a timely issue as next month, San Francisco voters will decide if the city’s largest businesses, many of them tech companies, should pay a special tax to help fund more homeless shelters and addiction centers like the one I visited. The debate is dividing the tech community. Marc Benioff of Salesforce says “homelessness is everyone’s problem” and backs the special tax, but others like Twitter’s Jack Dorsey say it’s “unfair.” Love it or loathe it, the ballot measure proposes more funding and action to tackle homelessness and drug addiction in our most vulnerable population. These are complex and deep rooted problems with no quick fixes, but I applaud Marc Benioff and others like him for taking a stand.
Several medical workers and a heroin addict shared their ‘dream’ solutions to homelessness and addiction in the city. Their answers may surprise you.
If I had a magic wand, I’d just flash over the Twitter building, the Google building and say: hey guys, how about some compassion for folks, some kindness? When somebody talks to you in the street, look them in they eye. Planting that little seed of compassion and kindness goes a long way and I think that’s how the larger change in our city would happen. There’s a lot of hostility, a lot of misinformation. So if I had a magic wand, I’d just like flash it and say: compassion, compassion, compassion…kindness and a safe injection site! Ana Cuevas, health worker at the Tom Waddell Health Center, SF Public Health [Pictured above]
Here’s a transcript of my full report. A shorter version aired on the BBC World Service on October 24, 2018.
Atmos: San Francisco city street sounds: bus, cars, fans, people…
Alison van Diggelen: I’m here at City Hall in the center of San Francisco. Within yards of the building’s gleaming dome, there are clusters of homeless people, huddled in doorways, sprawled on pavements, or slowly pacing the streets.
Every week, Dr Barry Zevin and his team walk the city streets to build rapport with homeless people with addiction problems and offer on-the-spot treatment. Once trust is established, they encourage patients to visit the city’s public health clinic. Today, there’s a steady stream of homeless people…
Alison van Diggelen: Inside this clinic, known as the Tom Waddell Health Center, I meet James (not his real name) a former medic in the United States army, who recently started treatment for heroin addiction.
James: Right now I got a prescription refilled, and the doctor was like: do you need a shelter bed for tonight? Are there other things I can do for you? I’m very impressed with how kind and helpful they are…going above and beyond to find what else they can do for me.
Alison van Diggelen: James, who’s 30, has been prescribed buprenorphine to help wean him off his opioid addiction. Buprenorphine is a daily pill that reduces opioid cravings and the extreme physical pain of withdrawal. Despite being an addict for over ten years, James sincerely wants to change.
James: This medication allows me to do a detox less painfully and I no longer will have intense cravings for the substance of abuse. It’s definitely more comfortable than cold turkey…
Alison van Diggelen: James has been homeless in SF for about five months, after moving from Seattle. Being on the streets compounds his challenges as he faces fear and loneliness, as well as drug dealers.
James: I moved to this city not knowing a whole lot about it, so the areas I go, I’ve only operated in them under addiction scenarios. So being on something that blocks the receptors…I’m not so prone to go back to using it and therefore I can operate in these areas where there’s a lot of environmental triggers without having to…feel the same feelings of craving, to want to use.
Alison van Diggelen: Sarah Strieff is a registered nurse with the SF Public Health’s “Street team”. They regularly walk the city streets to identify vulnerable patients in need of healthcare and detox. As they pound the pavements, how does she and her team convince homeless people like James to start treatment?
Nurse Sarah Strieff [pictured above]:There’s two ways we identify people: our own outreach and street presence; and through other agencies in the city that bring people to our attention.
Alison van Diggelen: Sarah, who wears ripped jeans and a T-shirt explains how being inconspicuous, non-threatening is key to their outreach.
Sarah Strieff: It’s casual, we dress down, we don’t wear uniforms.
Alison van Diggelen:No lab coats?
Sarah Strieff: No lab coats. No! We talk to people where they’re at…We’ll go to Golden Gate Park, the Haight, Bay View…I do see a lot of people hanging out in the Tenderloin.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic serves between 10 and 20 homeless people during its daily 4-hour clinic. No appointments are necessary and you don’t need insurance. Ana Cuevas works with Sarah on the “Street Team.”
Ana Cuevas: We try to build a relationship first and check in with folks. That’s the reason why our program is so successful. Everyone who works here sees people first, then patients. Check in and ask what they need and try to deliver, not impose my own agenda on them.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic delivers a comprehensive health care treatment plan, prescriptions for detox medications and even helps patients find a roof for the night.
Starting conversations about drug use is a sensitive process, and it takes weeks, months, even years for the Street Team to build trust with people on the street and at needle exchange facilities. For that reason, I wasn’t allowed to go on their rounds with them.
Ana Cuevas:It’s not hello: what’s your social security number, what’s your medical history? No, it’s like: who are you? How can we help you? We just listen… we just go with the flow.
Alison van Diggelen: Ana Cuevas describes the process as “Motivational interviewing” which involves a lot of listening, and no judgment.
Ana Cuevas:If someone comes in and says: Hey Ana, I’ve been using a lot. I’m not going to say: you shouldn’t do that! (instead): what are your thoughts around that? What’s happened with that? And then just kinda carry that conversation like that. One of the biggest problems with health care is that there’s often not enough time to listen. That’s the root of motivational interviewing: being present, listening and then figuring out solutions together.
Alison van Diggelen: Dr Barry Zevin is the Medical Director of Street Medicine and his team treats about 500 homeless patients a year, many of whom are addicted to opioids.
Dr Barry Zevin:When we treat them with buprenorphine or methadone – long acting, continuous stimulation of these receptors in the brain, without the sudden highs and sudden withdrawals that come with a short acting drug – these longer acting medications can really change and repair what the dysfunction of the brain is and all of the physiological stress responses people have. The physiology of someone using street opioids has really gone wrong, and that causes depression, anxiety, stress, physical disease, decreases in the immune system…a whole cascade of things go wrong that can go right when we replace that with long-acting, high affinity to the opioid receptor in the brain medication.
Alison van Diggelen: The health worker, Ana Cuevas, recalls a twenty year-old woman the team was able to help and within a week she was reunited with her family and on the road to recovery.
But Dr Zevin admits such cases are outliers.
Dr Barry Zevin:We’re in era of fentanyl contaminated drugs. It’s found its way into the drugs…They’re super potent…The risk of overdose is much higher now than it was 5 years ago. I’m talking with people every day and any day they’re at risk from having an overdose or fatal overdose bc of this new trend in drug supply.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic treats a small percentage of the estimated 20,000 intravenous drug users in San Francisco, but Dr Zevin insists it has ripple effects. By targeting the most vulnerable people and achieving results, he’s convinced it inspires others to get treatment. He considers it a remarkable success that about one third of his patients are still in touch with the team and on treatment after a year.
Dr Barry Zevin: I always describe our model as effective but not very efficient.…We see them a lot. Once a week is not enough for some patients. With the level of instability, the level of things that can happen to people..If people are in a street or a park or a shelter, it’s a lot easier to bring the medical care to them, than wait in an office for them to finally make it to an appointment.
Alison van Diggelen: This SF program is just one of several similar schemes across the United States in Boston and in Texas. They’re often run in conjunction with needle exchanges and low barrier shelters, so that addicts can get the full support they need. Is the solution policy changes, more shelters and more funding? Healthcare worker, Ana Cuevas offers a more profound insight.
Ana Cuevas:Honestly, the most challenging part is changing the way our larger community views our population. Our folks, a lot of their humanity has been taken away…
If I had a magic wand, I’d just flash over the Twitter building, the Google building and say: hey guys, how about some compassion for folks, some kindness? When somebody talks to you in the street, look them in they eye. Planting that little seed of compassion and kindness goes a long way and I think that’s how the larger change in our city would happen. There’s a lot of hostility, a lot of misinformation.
So if I had a magic wand, I’d just like flash it and say: compassion, compassion, compassion…kindness and a safe injection site!
Alison van Diggelen: This viewpoint is echoed by James, the drug addict who recently started treatment.
James:It’s a matter of empathy I think. I would ask anybody in charge of policy…people might not seem kind or deserving of help, but they’re all people who may be in different stages of grief or suffering and to realize that it takes kindness to bring it out.
Alison van Diggelen: What are his hopes for the future?
James:I’m trained as a chef, I worked as a medic in the military. There’s things in both these fields I’d like to be doing…
Have you ever considered the benefits of fasting, but feared the challenges? Here in Silicon Valley, Sumaya Kazi is the poster child for intermittent fasting, a new trend in weight control that’s popular among the tech set. Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food anywhere from sixteen hours to several days – with “normal” eating resumed in between. Enthusiasts say the health benefits extend far beyond weight loss. The BBC’s Health Check team sent Alison van Diggelen to explore the evidence.
“The effects were almost immediate for me: the weight started melting off really early on… I lost about 50 lbs over the first 7 1/2 months.” Sumaya Kazi
Here’s a transcript of my report (edited for length and clarity):
Alison van Diggelen: When 36-year old Sumaya Kazi launched her tech startup in 2010, the long hours, constant traveling and too much eating-out made her pack on the pounds. At over 200 lbs (90 kg), she tried to lose weight by exercising compulsively, trying weightloss groups, and doing weekly meal planning.
Sumaya Kazi: None of them stuck with me or showed me enough progress to stick with it. None of them felt like a lifestyle. When I found IF, it absolutely did for me.
Alison van Diggelen: For Kazi, fasting offered quick results:
Sumaya Kazi: The effects were almost immediate for me: the weight started melting off really early on, to my surprise, because I wasn’t working out at the time. I lost about 50 lbs over the first 7 1/2 months.
Alison van Diggelen: It was a BBC television documentary about fasting that convinced her to give it a try. Research from Johns Hopkins University in animals and humans suggested that fasting could enhance brain function and might evenhelp protect against cancer, strokes and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Fasting advocates claim it can reduce weight, improve blood sugar,can “re-set” the metabolism, boosts the immunesystem andcan even slow down aging. So what was Kazi’s personal experience?
Sumaya Kazi: I no longer had issues with high blood pressure. I was pre-diabetic early on and no longer have those issues. I no longer have issues of sleep apnea. Also I have more energy, I’m more productive, I feel more focused, I feel food tastes better.
Alison van Diggelen: So what does it involve? Kazi points out that the most popular form of intermittent fasting – or IF – is called “16-8.” That’s 16 hours of fasting followed by 8 hours of eating. Simply cutting out breakfast and eating an early dinner can accomplish that.
But Kazi prefers “alternate day” fasting. For her, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are fast days. The other days she calls “feast days.” This being Silicon Valley, she frames it in binary terms:
Sumaya Kazi:It’s almost like an on-off switch: I know when I should be eating, I know when I should be feasting. It keeps it simple for me. IF isn’t a magic pill. It works when you put it to work. It’s not a diet, it’s not about WHAT you eat, it’s about WHEN you eat. …
Alison van Diggelen: But how does it compare to other weight loss regimens? And are its claims backed up by research?
A professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently completed a fasting study with 28 obese patients and found that – like traditional diets – the 16-8 fast could offer an effective method for losing weight – but cautioned that longer-term, large-scale controlled trials are needed.
Santa Clara University Prof Heidi Lidtke, Nutritionist explains fasting for the BBC. Photo by Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues
I went to a coffee shop in a local bookstore to chat with a nutrition expert, Professor Heidi Lidtke.
Alison van Diggelen: Heidi and I assess the vast array of diet books on the bookstore walls. It’s quite overwhelming.
Heidi Lidtke: What I tell my students is: we should eat real food, mostly plants, not too much and we should enjoy what we eat.
Heidi is an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley.
Heidi Lidtke: The most exciting research has been done in yeast and it shows that cancer in yeast can be totally stopped…the yeast cells are healthy and the cancer cells die after chemo and fasting. But it’s yeast and humans are NOT yeast. I don’t know how we can translate single cell organisms (yeast) to multi cell organisms – humans.
Alison van Diggelen:So it would be a stretch to say IF can cure cancer?
Heidi Lidtke:There are a lot of studies in rats and mice…It has cured and totally reversed diabetes in rats, not humans…But it’s not totally transferable, right?
Alison van Diggelen: What about studies on humans and diabetes?
Heidi Lidtke: There have been some studies on some of precursors, sugar levels and insulin levels – those can go down in the first couple of months of IF. But all human studies have been small – 35 people….it’s hard to say 35 Turkish people are the same as 35 Americans… It’s hard to extrapolate from the research.
Alison van Diggelen:What would be required to convince scientists, to show this causal connection?
Heidi Lidtke: There would need to be multiple studies in multiple population groups…We’re in the process of doing that, but it takes time.
Alison van Diggelen: But Lidtke remains skeptical, especially about the cancer claimswhich could influence people when they’re feeling vulnerable.
Heidi Lidtke: My initial reaction? Interesting…I have concerns for some people at risk…people are forgoing scientifically validated treatment…that people are going to fast instead of getting chemo…I have concerns.
Alison van Diggelen: Lidtke also points out that fasting is not for everyone – and could be dangerous for those with eating disorders (like anorexia or bulimia). And she recommends discussing it witha doctor before trying it.
Heidi Lidtke: For someone who’s got disordered eating it just feeds into that and gives them a framework.
Alison van Diggelen: So how does IF compare to other diets?
Heidi Lidtke: The research on IF is really slim and then research comparisons are even slimmer. It’s hard to do comparisons. The diet that works is the one you stick to. If you’re able to stick and keep the weight off, then that’s the one that works.
Alison van Diggelen: Lidtke emphasizes that there’s no diet that works for everyone and scientific research is limited, but she does single out the “DASH” diet which has been studied by the National Institutes of Health and is recommended by the US Dept of Agriculture in its nutrition guidelines. It’s rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods; and limited in sweetened foods and drinks, red meat, and fatsand has been proven to reduce blood pressure and hypertension, even without weight loss.
So, after hearing all the caveats, foranyone still keen to try fasting, Sumaya Kazi has three top tips….
Sumaya Kazi:
Look at IF as an experiment – It’s really better to approach it as something that you’re trying on for size…Feel free to experiment with the different schedules.
Give it some time. The first couple of days, you’ll likely be hangry, mad about starting. It’s about getting into the habit. Give it a fighting chance, push through and understand why you’re feeling what you’re feeling. After 2 weeks it’s going to start feeling like something you can actually do.
Sparkling water will be your best friend…carbonated water can help you feel full on fast days.
Alison van Diggelen: A small study in the US recently showed that fasting caused some people to experience lower blood pressure and improvements in processing sugar. But downsides like headaches, drowsiness and increased thirst were also reported. The bottom line is this: Despite Sumaya Kazi’s impressive transformation, to say that intermittent fasting is an enduring answer for everyone’s weight loss and general health: larger, longer-term studies are needed.
With the tragic news of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade’s recent deaths by suicide, the spotlight is on suicide this month. The latest trends are chilling: The suicide rate in the United States has grown by over 25% since 1999, according to the CDC. Alison van Diggelen’s latest report for the BBC’s Health Check couldn’t be more timely. She was asked to explore the role that barbershops can play as a conduit to getting vulnerable men the help they need. Alison found that the potential for reaching vulnerable people is enormous. This hopeful story could equally apply to hair salons, sports clubs, bars, cafes, places of worship… even sidewalks. Wherever two people have a chance to talk, there’s an opportunity to help save a life.
[Photo credit: Elizabeth Brockway, The Daily Beast]
“It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional…their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.” Dan Dixon, owner of Crewners Barber Shop in Silicon Valley, California
Here’s a transcript of the original report (edited for length and clarity):
BBC Health Check host, Claudia Hammond: In many parts of the world, men feel reluctant to seek help for their mental health. So in Silicon Valley, California, there’s a barbershop that’s become a safe space for men to talk about more private things in life, while they have a haircut. For Health Check, Alison van Diggelen has been to a barbershop to see how it’s done…
Alison van Diggelen:Here in downtown San Jose, Crewners Barber Shop is a popular place for men to shed some hair, as well as some of their troubles. The owner, Dan Dixon, is dapperly dressed in burgundy shirt, black waistcoat and white tie. He’s a warm and friendly chap who sees his regulars about once a month. Over the years, he’s built a lot of trust. Dixon and his barbers have become confidantes to many men. Their clients tell them when they’re planning to leave their spouses, when there’s a death in the family and more…
Dan Dixon: There are people who’ve felt this is their place, their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings… A gentleman who’d not yet come out to his family…he wanted to go through a sex change. He confided that in me prior to mentioning it to his family. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.
Alison van Diggelen: His barbershop is a safe place to talk, for anyone at all.
Dan Dixon: It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional. What’s funny right now is Alex is cutting the hair of one of our Catholic priests here in downtown San Jose. So Alex is currently giving his confessional to his priest. (laughter) It’s a great environment…I try to lend a bit of my background…I’m older, I’m 49. I try to be the open ear and the soft spoken one and lend what I’ve gone through…
Alison van Diggelen: I talk to James Ursin, one of Dixon’s long time clients. James, have you shared intimate stuff about you, your family?
James Ursin: Of course! And he has too. When you live in such a competitive atmosphere of Silicon Valley: high cost of living, job opportunities…I like to run things by him. He’ll sometimes open up…you have a relationship you see once a month. You have to be honest with them, they’re holding scissors next to your neck! (laughter) Part of that goes back to trust.
James Ursin: Sometimes just talking out my problems to him he doesn’t even need to respond. I can usually answer them myself. Maybe I bring up questions I wouldn’t bring up with my wife, or my business partner. An ear to listen to…It’s important – barbers is a lost art, an amazing profession. It’s not just about cutting hair…
Alison van Diggelen: This intimate bond between barbers and their clients is something that doctors sought to leverage in a recent six-month study of 52 barber shops across Los Angeles. Cardiologist Ron Victor and his team discovered that barbers could act as a conduit to getting men the healthcare interventions they need. The study’s focus was blood pressure and by bringing pharmacists into barber shops, they helped reduce the blood pressure of 300 men by a significant percentage. Independent experts called the study “a home run in high-touch medicine.”
Does Victor believe this method could be used for other healthcare issues? It’s possible he says, but he points out that blood pressure tests involve a simple cuff around the arm and are quick and easy to administer. Mental health screening is a sensitive issue, he says, and would require more time and expertise. Victor mentions however, that black barber shops – the focus of his study – would be a good place to address mental health issues as most have a back room where a mental health worker could meet privately with customers.
A British charity, the Lions Barber Collective is focused on suicide prevention. Its barber shop members encourage customers to talk openly and are trained to identify signs of depression. They connect customers with the Samaritans, a volunteer group that offers a 24-hour helpline and free counseling for people in distress.
Mego Lien: The barbershop collaboration is a fantastic idea! Middle aged men have a much lower chance of reaching out to mental health professionals. It’s really about going to where men are at and relying on existing relationships…
Alison van Diggelen: In Silicon Valley, the suicide rate rises in men over 45 years-old. Lien’s team aims to help vulnerable groups, including teenage men. They’ve reached middle-aged men via targeted public service announcements on sports radio; and they reach teenagers at school.
Mego Lien: It’s not just the mental health professionals in schools, the teachers, the coaches, the bus drivers and the janitors ideally would all be trained in recognizing the warning signs and speaking to someone who might be thinking of suicide. It’s about: Who are the individuals in the community who’re interacting with the people you’re trying to reach?
Alison van Diggelen: Lien recommends talking directly to people you’re concerned about; and using the word “suicide” and not vague phrases like “harming yourself.”
Mego Lien: Research shows that if you’re able to breach the topic of suicide genuinely and empathetically that lowers people’s anxiety around the topic. There’s a lot of stigma…more likely to open up to you and talk about what’s going on with them.
Alison van Diggelen: She points out that warning signs aren’t always verbal…
Mego Lien: …they might be behavioral, like stockpiling pills or dangerous weapons…they could be physical like stomach aches, headaches or chronic pain that can’t be explained. The starting point is to look out for these warning signs…start having rapport building conversations, list a few of the signs you’re noticing…
Alison van Diggelen: What’s the best way to get help for a loved one?
Mego Lien: We recommend…taking them to a therapist who can help them…or sit with a loved one and dialing the number for the suicide prevention hotline and supporting them while they make the call and have that conversation. Provide mental health resources and get their good faith commitment that they’re going to seek help.
Alison van Diggelen: Lien points out that easy access to guns is a big issue in the United States. Her wish list for effective suicide prevention has three components:
Mego Lien: A lot of community members trained who can recognize warning signs. Strong mental health systems that can take people who need treatment; and less access to deadly means like firearms. [CDC reports confirm that about half of U.S. suicides use guns]
Alison van Diggelen: She emphasizes that the media has an important role to play to avoid sensationalizing suicide and to help to lift its stigma…
Mego Lien: Research has shown media can contribute to contagion …In terms of do’s and don’ts: the word “Commit” makes people think about committing a crime or a sin. We prefer the language someone “died by suicide.” It’s more neutral and less stigmatizing.
Fade in: Atmos of barber shop
Alison van Diggelen: Back in the barbershop, I ask Dan Dixon if he’d embrace a suicide awareness and prevention program like the Lions Barber Collective in Britain…
Dan Dixon: I know it would work for me and my staff. Barber shops in the U.S. are more along lines of pub…a clubhouse type setting where it’s more about the masculine camaraderie…my staff, we would be open to that.
Amal Clooney, Emma Gonzales, Rick Steves. These are just a few of the influential people who’re standing up to gun violence since the Florida high school massacre on February 14th. Amal Clooney addressed an audience of 6500 women at the Watermark Conference for Women in Silicon Valley just a few days after the mass shooting. Here’s what she said about outspoken high school students, like Emma Gonzalez:
“I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!”
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast brings together my recent interviews on this topic from the BBC, the Commonwealth Club and the Watermark Conference for Women. It seeks to answer the following questions:
Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea.
Listen to the Fresh Dialogues podcast here or play it below:
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1. Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
Emma Gonzales was one of the dozens of students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida who survived the massacre of 17 of their friends on February 14th. While most of us would have been terrorized and cowed by the horrific gun violence, just three days later, Emma Gonzales took to the podium at a Florida rally, where she directed her anger at President Trump and other politicians for accepting donations from the National Rifle Association. If you haven’t yet watched her passionate and articulate speech, I recommend you watch right now. She’s got over 1 million followers on Twitter and is using that as a platform to share information about the upcoming March for Our Lives on March 24th.
Emma Gonzalez: “Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see…They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS!”
2. Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
AmalClooney was a keynote speaker at the Watermark Conference for Women on February 23rd. She was interviewed onstage by NPR’s Kelly McEvers, who asked her why she and George Clooney just committed $500,000 to the #NeverAgain movement to end gun violence. Here’s what she said:
Amal Clooney: “I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…at 16 years old… To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. As someone who didn’t grow up in the US, I’ve always thought of it as this great country providing an example to others. The idea that children are scared to go to school, that bullet proof backpacks are sold out, and they have to go through live shooter drills and the solution now is to start arming teachers!”
“I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!” (applause)
She added that her children are very likely to go to school here in the United States and so that’s why this is very personal for her. One day the wee Clooneys’ lives may depend on real change happening and a reduction in the proliferation of guns in this country.
I asked Kelly McEvers – from her front row perspective as NPR host – why these Florida teens are making such a big impact. Here’s what she said:
Kelly McEvers: “This time something has snapped…Instagram is the difference (and Twitter). They’re trolling the trolls as no one has ever done…We in the mainstream media are listening, because these kids, they get a survivor’s pass – they sheltered in a cupboard for four hours…People are desperate for something to happen. For a long time elected officials have been able to take money from people…No one’s tried to call them on it. And now they are. So, are businesses going to rethink who they do business with? Are politicians going to rethink who they take money from? That’s the bigger thing that could come out of this. Not just policy.”
Kelly hosts an NPR podcast called Embedded and says she’d like to be embedded with the young students like Emma Gonzalez to watch this new movement taking root.
3. What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea
On February 17th, a few hours after Gonzales addressed the nation, I interviewed America’s beloved travel guru and PBS personality, Rick Steves at the Commonwealth Club of California. He leads a multi-million dollar travel business and yet he was willing to risk alienating some of his fans (and impacting his business) by speaking freely and forcefully against the NRA. Here’s a link to the full interview podcast. Listen @58:42 when I ask him about Europe’s sensible gun laws and Emma Gonzales’s speech.
Rick Steves: “I would like us to have Europe’s standards when it comes to guns…The American people need to step up and vote….We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA and elect people who proudly don’t.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods was one of the first companies to take a stand against the NRA. The CEO comments echo what Rick Steves told me:
“We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA.”
I discussed all this live on the BBC World Service on Monday. The BBC’s Fergus Nicoll asked me to share highlights of my Rick Steves interview in the context of America’s upcoming midterm elections. You can listen to the full discussion at the BBC World Service, starting at 12:58 in the podcast.
James: Right now I got a prescription refilled, and the doctor was like: do you need a shelter bed for tonight? Are there other things I can do for you? I’m very impressed with how kind and helpful they are…going above and beyond to find what else they can do for me.
Alison van Diggelen: The clinic delivers a comprehensive health care treatment plan, prescriptions for detox medications and even helps patients find a roof for the night.
Dan Dixon:
